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lunches & laundry (soLs)

For a long time Sunday evenings have been a favorite time of mine. I like the way they wind down the weekend. I like the anticipation of a new week. However, last Sunday I had a new thought pop into my head:

The week is a little daunting looking at it from Sunday evening.

Yikes! I don’t want life to feel daunting. So I’m wondering why that thought hunkered down in my mind and remains there even now.

I think it comes down to lunches and laundry.

We pack our lunches, which means that each week we make about 30 sandwiches. Sixty slices of bread. Really? Sixty slices of bread? It’s daunting thinking about all of that bread and cucumbers and carrots and yogurt and applesauce and cheese and grapes and apples (not to mention writing all the little notes that must be tucked into lunch boxes).

This time of year means school clothes and play clothes every day for the kids. It means school clothes and practice clothes and game uniforms for Karianne. It means work clothes and after work clothes for Andy and me. This all boils down to a lot of dirty of laundry. It’s daunting to think about being buried alive under the piles of laundry.

I’m realizing at the end of the week I’ll have the proof I need that even though the school routine changes the pace of our lives and even though I have to shift the way I organize, it is still a very good thing. We are still a happy family. We still have time for the important things like eating dinner together and blowing bubbles in the front yard and reading books. And with time lunches and laundry won’t seem so daunting, but instead they will be yet another reminder of the blessings filling my life. After all, I’m the lucky mommma who has a healthy, active, vibrant family.

Ah yes…lunches and laundry, how do we find the time to fit everything else in between?! Speaking of lunch notes, I was casting away things from a bygone time when I came across our oldest's middle school lunch box – it brought back so many memories, I had to open it up one last time, only to find three lunch notes she'd saved in a zippered compartment. She tacked them to her bulletin board took them along to her new apartment. Fitting in time for those lunch notes is SO important!

There is something satisfying about routine, even if it contains a lot of work. And as you said, with all that work comes a family who is active and loving and in a good place-all things to be grateful for. I like the way you described your journey of reasoning from daunted to blessed!

I'm here to help my daughter with the new routine of being a mom so the change won't be so daunting. It still boils down to 'lunches & laundry' already! So many lunches and so much laundry in life right from the start! But where there's love the lunches and laundry are just expressions of that love!

I agree with your point that we have to look past the daunting routines and remember the blessings.For me this post was a fascinating glimpse into the world of “lunches and laundry.” I can relate to the laundry part of it. The lunches are different here in Estonia. We don't pack lunches for kids. They get breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack in the kindergarten. It's part of the fee. All students from 1st to 9th grade get lunch at school. The government pays for that. I find it sweet that you have a lunch box note tradition.Terje

Everything worthwhile requires hard work. I've always thought that I'd never win the lottery (despite trying occasionally) because I'm meant to work, to create, and to reap the satisfaction that only work can elicit. Creating a happy family is the best work of all.

Ruth, I smiled reading your title. Awe the laundry! You summed it up – family. We are active and I love knowing that laundry is essential as well. I liked your use of 'and' to build the reality of how much can accumulate. :)MHG

Ruth, I call my Sunday routine the 4L's for Lunches, Laundry, Library and Lesson Plan Check. My favorite “L” is the Library. I added that one in recently to keep the day more pleasant and less humdrum.

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Hello there! May you find inspiration to celebrate your story, even in the middle of the muddle.

I’m the director of a professional development consortium of 30 schools in northern Indiana committed to empowering student-centered learning. I write books, articles and other stuff because I’m sure stories + teachers make the world a better place. Most importantly, I’m completely charmed by my forever family. Welcome to my corner of the world.

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